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Polaroid 'Pop' Offers Iconic Pics With Instagram-Like Flair

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The Polaroid Pop instant digital camera was unveiled at this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
The Polaroid Pop instant digital camera was unveiled at this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES). (Image credit: Polaroid)

Polaroid will not fade … its popularity, that is. Celebrating its 80th anniversary, Polaroid, the company that built the popular instant camera that spits out photos for eager consumers to watch come into view, has just unveiled its latest product — the Polaroid Pop.

Revealed this week at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the updated camera still delivers the classic 3- by-4-inch instant prints, but now users can easily upload their pics to Instagram and other social media sites. Plus, the camera has a timer for selfies and three color modes: black and white, color and vintage sepia (a filter that gives images the iconic Polaroid look and feel), according to the company, which was founded in 1937.

And you'll be able to get your creative on: The digital camera can be connected wirelessly to mobile devices, where, using the Polaroid print app (for iOS and Android), you can edit and polish images with various filters, digital stickers and effects.

Like its predecessors, the Pop has a built-in printer, this one called ZINK® for its zero ink printing technology. Everything needed to create your pics is embedded right into the photographic paper; heat then can activate and "colorize" the dye crystals of cyan, yellow and magenta that are hidden inside a polymer coating, according to Polaroid.

"Perfectly blending nostalgia with modern design and functionality, the Polaroid Pop embodies the brand's 80-year history; staying true to the Polaroid core values of sharing, instant, fun and ease-of-use, while pushing the envelope with a fresh form factor and the latest technology," Scott Hardy, president and CEO of Polaroid, said in a statement.

The first consumer Polaroid camera (Model 95) with self-developing film was sold in 1948 for $89.75 at Jordan Marsh department store in Boston, according to Boston University.

Since then, Polaroid has developed a slew of cameras and other photographic systems.

The Polaroid Pop, which has the snazzy one-button shutter control like the iconic Polaroid One Step of the 1980s, is expected to be on store shelves at the end of the year, according to Polaroid. The company said that pricing is not yet available.

(If you're in the market for a new camera, check out this Camera Buying Guide from our sister site Tom's Guide.)

Original article on Live Science.

Jeanna Bryner
Managing editor, Scientific American

Jeanna Bryner is managing editor of Scientific American. Previously she was editor in chief of Live Science and, prior to that, an editor at Scholastic's Science World magazine. Bryner has an English degree from Salisbury University, a master's degree in biogeochemistry and environmental sciences from the University of Maryland and a graduate science journalism degree from New York University. She has worked as a biologist in Florida, where she monitored wetlands and did field surveys for endangered species, including the gorgeous Florida Scrub Jay. She also received an ocean sciences journalism fellowship from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. She is a firm believer that science is for everyone and that just about everything can be viewed through the lens of science.